Woodbury Common shoppers look for deals, adventure

Deeply discounted designer duds are the big draw for Woodbury Common Premium Outlet on Thanksgiving and Black Friday – but so is the experience of getting swept up in shopping excitement.

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By Jessica DiNapoli

recordonline.com

By Jessica DiNapoli

Posted Nov. 23, 2012 at 3:20 AM
Updated Nov 23, 2012 at 3:23 AM

By Jessica DiNapoli

Posted Nov. 23, 2012 at 3:20 AM
Updated Nov 23, 2012 at 3:23 AM

» Social News

Deeply discounted designer duds are the big draw for Woodbury Common Premium Outlet on Thanksgiving and Black Friday – but so is the experience of getting swept up in shopping excitement.

“There's nothing like this in China,” said Bobbie Bao, a high school student from Beijing visiting her mother in New York City.

Rima Thakral of Manhattan drove up to the outlets with her boyfriend just for fun.

“It's an adventure,” she said.

There were deals to be had, but savvy shoppers could find similar bargains during a normal day of shopping, Thakral said.

The event, called Midnight Madness, is something of a ritual for Mabel Ramirez of Mexico City. For the past three Thanksgivings, she has planned 15-day vacations in New York just so she could shop at Woodbury Common Black Friday. Ramirez was one of the many shoppers pulling a large rolling suitcase behind her early Friday morning.

“It's easier than bags,” she said.

Brand names alone brought out Brianna Anderson, 13, of Yonkers.

“The thing about our generation is it's all about the brand,” she said. “The fact that it's expensive is what makes it so exclusive.”

Anderson, checking out tattooed tees in Ed Hardy, was carrying three large True Religion bags. At True Religion, she bought jeans and a shirt and got a free duffel bag.

Some men were recruited by their wives and girlfriends to wait in lines and run bags of designer clothing from the outlet to the car.

Robert Griffin of Philadelphia was one of those men. He had been waiting on line at Tory Burch for 45 minutes for his wife, Meghan, who likes “big bags and shoes,” he said.

The couple drove up from Philadelphia just for the event.

James Tompkins of Poughquag volunteered to run bags back and forth to his car for his family. At around 1 a.m., Tompkins was schlepping two large Vera Bradley bags back to the family car.

“It's a lot of fun,” he said. He expected to make the trip back and forth three to four times in the early morning hours Friday.